The U.S. has also claimed Syrian links to specific terrorist events, but in each case information has been developed to refute such allegations or to raise questions as to the accuracy of such charges.

IN EARLY 1987, President Hafiz al Assad, in power since his November 1970 takeover in a bloodless military coup d'état, continued to lead Syria.

A bill was approved after months of debate in Parliament that cut across decades of history in Lebanon and the rest of the Middle East, where the refugees’ fate remains a pressing question. Although the United Nations now registers about 4.7 million Palestinian refugees across the region, most are the descendants of the 700,000 who fled the Arab-Israeli war of 1948 and the 300,000 who fled in 1967.

The problem with the fence is that when the Israelis erected it following their withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, they did not follow the border line exactly. In places, they adjusted the route for convenience and military reasons.

he underlying problem here is that in 2000 Israel withdrew from Lebanon unilaterally, without an agreement. That followed the breakdown of peace talks with Syria (which at the time held sway over Lebanon) and it had all sorts of adverse political consequences – among them, allowing Hezbollah to claim victory and, probably, contributing to the start of the second Palestinian intifada.

t's still not too late to rectify the mistake of 10 years ago and calm the border tensions with an agreement, though whether the latest incident will prompt serious efforts to do that is another matter. What's really needed is a three-way pact involving Lebanon, Israel and Syria (since Syria is still an important player in Lebanon, not to mention the thorny Shebaa farms issue).

Last Friday, the six-month truce between Hamas and Israel expired. Hamas is proposing an extension. But enough people in Israel seem to be itching for a fight, calling the drizzle of rockets, which so far have caused no injuries, unacceptable and reason enough for war.

There are numerous reasons behind this situation, but focus lately has been on Turkey’s on-going struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group that Ankara has accused of being supplied by Damascus. During the 14 year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish military, this accusation against Syria has been made repeatedly, but never has it led to a situation that involves foreign leaders shuttling between the two capitals or to military build-ups along borders.

Along with Israel, the United States and her NATO allies also received blame for the crisis. The Syrian press has called Turkey an anti-Arab alliance that included "the Zionist Entity (Israel), America and Britain, who are conspiring and spying against the Arabs." "Converting Turkey to a base to implement American strategy would not serve Turkish interests with the Arabs now and in the future,"8 stated the al-Thawra newspaper.

Both nations now find themselves in a difficult position. Turkey stands to lose any support or relations with the Arab world it once enjoyed. Syria faces military defeat again from the a non-Arab nation. Israel is in a dangerous position where Syria may attempt to strike at the Golan Heights, using difficulties with Turkey as an excuse. If Israel is drawn into conflict with Syria, the delicate balance of peace in the Middle East would be shattered. The United States would find itself having to support Israel and a NATO ally in Turkey, while possibly facing allies across the line in Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. A conflict of this nature could allow Iran or Iraq the necessary excuse to resume direct hostilities against Israel. Old alliances could be both renewed and shattered simultaneously across the region.

Most Iranian Kurds are Sunnis, while the Iranians are Shi'a, and the heavy shadow of Shi'a Islam pervades state ideology and practice. But despite their high ethnic awareness and strong feelings of kinship with the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey, with whom they want to enjoy close contact and trade relations, they do not seem to have strong aspirations to secede from Iran.